Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to spark a revolution

to spark a revolution

2 5.3
To start a sudden large change in a country's government or how people live
  • phrasal verb
  • /spɑrk ə ˌrɛvəˈluːʃən/
: desencadenar una revolución
  • You never know—might it spark a revolution?

Examples

  • The latest Arab Social Media Report explains how things are changing, telling us that not only did social media help spark a revolution, but now it appears to be setting the scene for deep-rooted societal and cultural change.

    Blog text (31)

  • Many of us remember the popular question that sparked a revolution of sorts, especially among youth.

    Blog text (23)

  • If he moves in that direction, he will do nothing less than spark a revolution.

    Academic text (2000)

  • Black women also learn to drive, which sparked a revolution in gender relations.

  • A pamphlet can spark a revolution.

    Blog text (19)

  • The US government realizes that their approval numbers are at all-time historical lows, and that might well be enough to spark a revolution and regime change in the USA.

    Blog text (28)

  • The protest outside the government building managed to spark a revolution among the citizens demanding change.

  • Her groundbreaking speech was able to spark a revolution in how people viewed climate change.

  • New social media platforms can spark a revolution in how we communicate and share information.

Synonyms

to stir up
vsto spark a revolution
126 4.8

To make people feel strong emotions like anger or fear

aims to cause major change or uprising rather than only causing emotion or trouble
to galvanize
vsto spark a revolution
33 6.7

To make people feel shocked and excited so they act

starts a broad decisive change or uprising rather than only motivating people
to spark off
vsto spark a revolution
  • Informal
3 3.9

To cause a sudden event or strong reaction to begin

initiates large scale change or uprising rather than any sudden event
to revolutionize
vsto spark a revolution
1 7.3

Remove a government by force and put new leaders in charge

is about starting major change or uprising suddenly rather than overthrowing directly

How Significant

to overthrow
123 5.1
to spark a revolution
2 5.3

Surface Forms

spark a revolution infinitive

Morphology

spark + a + revolution

The meaning is transparently composed: 'spark' (to trigger/provoke) plus 'a revolution' (a major uprising or rapid change) directly yields 'to cause or initiate a major change or uprising.' The phrase follows a standard metaphorical causation pattern found cross-linguistically and contains no unpredictable idiomatic shift, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer the meaning.

Etymology

The phrase spark a revolution uses the image of a small spark lighting a big fire that quickly changes everything. So the tiny spark stands for starting a revolution, meaning 'to cause' a sudden, large change or uprising.